New History of the Marathas v1.c11.30

v1.c11.30

Days passed in this way. Jay Sinh wrote back strongly to the Emperor not to take severe steps against Shivaji but to conciliate him and utilise his services in the Deccan. He urged that the Emperor ought to respect the sacred oath and guarantee he had solemnly given to Shivaji that no harm would be done to him; that an Emperor’s word is the most sacred thing in the world. An open violation of such guarantee would not only antagonise Jay Sinh, powerful as he doubtless was, but would estrange all the other Rajput princes. This fear indeed deterred the Emperor from taking the extreme step of putting Shivaji to death.